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Quality shows. On your schedule.

PBS Hawai‘i Passport is an added benefit for valued donors of public television.

With PBS Hawai‘i Passport, you can enjoy past episodes of many of your favorite PBS and PBS Hawai‘i shows on demand using your computer, smartphone or tablet. More platforms and devices are coming soon!

All of us who serve on the PBS Hawai‘i Board feel so privileged and honored to do so. It begins when we walk toward our new headquarters and pass the wall containing the names of all of you who supported the building of our new home. It is at once humbling and inspiring. And we know that we have a responsibility to honor the trust you have given us with your gifts.

As we come into and walk throughout the building, we can see – literally through all the glass – a very special and dedicated group of employees making the mission of PBS Hawai‘i live every day. They are the best at what they do and they approach their tasks with aloha for each other and for all of you who do us the honor of letting us become a part of your lives. And it is our privilege to support them.

Hawai‘i President and CEO Leslie Wilcox and Board Chair Robbie Alm untying the maile lei at the grand opening of the station’s new home, September 21, 2016.

And as we have watched it grow, we have all come to understand how special and really extraordinary HIKI NŌ has become. The young people of Hawai‘i are now storytellers of nationwide fame and distinction, as they win award after award in national competitions. They show the skills honed through diligent and demanding work, under the guidance of our great HIKI NŌ team, including Executive Producer Robert Pennybacker, Managing Editor Sue Yim, Online Editor Nikki Minamoto and Administrative Assistant Susan Waldman. There were those who said that HIKI NŌ would never happen – and if by chance we got a statewide student news network of public, private and charter schools started, it would most certainly fail. Our young people, mostly from public schools, every day prove them wrong.

Alm, during his service as Director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, with Deputy Director Susan Doyle, circa
1992.

It is also truly a great privilege and pleasure for all of us to support the very special leadership of Leslie Wilcox. She left the bright lights, fame and remuneration of commercial television, where she was one of the top-rated on-air newscasters in town, to join us, and she has been an amazing force since the day she got here. Her excellence as a journalist made a home in a place that features great public affairs programming (such as Insights), the drawing out of our community leaders (Leslie’s own Long Story Short) and showcasing special stories of Hawai‘i, making sure they are shared across our Islands and with the world. Nothing could speak more strongly to that than the 2015 studio concert of Jimmy Borges and the recent Eddie and Myrna Kamae film festival Leslie was entrusted to present. We are so lucky that PBS Hawai‘i turns out to be her life’s passion and we are in awe as we watch her go, and go, and go.

And our Board members are so lucky to work as a group that brings great community wisdom, an ethic of laboring for love and for Hawai‘i, and an insistence on quality and passion, that includes: Muriel Anderson, Susan Bendon, Jodi Endo Chai, Keola Donaghy, Matt Emerson, Jake Fergus, Jason Fujimoto, Joanne Grimes, Jason Haruki, Noelani Kalipi, Joy Miura Koerte, Kamani Kuala‘au, Mary Ann Manahan, Bettina Mehnert, Cameron Nekota, Aaron Salā, Julie Shimonishi, Ka‘iulani Sodaro, Candy Suiso, Kent Tsukamoto, Huy Vo, Bruce Voss and shortly, Jim Duffy and Ian Kitajima. It is said that one of the best measures of a person is the company he or she keeps, and this company speaks for itself.

For me, this month brings to a close one of the most treasured journeys of my life. Education television was born in the same UH College of Education building in which my parents Dick and Julie Alm taught. As Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Hawai‘i Public Broadcasting Authority was a key part of my everyday life. And later when PBS Hawai‘i came into being as a community licensee, I joined the Board in 1999 and became Chair, succeeding Neil Hannahs, in 2009. Making sure that we finished the capital campaign, that we built and moved into our new building, and that we set ourselves up in a way that would allow us to lead in this exciting century, were goals for many of us, and certainly for me.

And now leadership passes to new and very worthy hands. As part of Hawai‘i Island’s outstanding Fujimoto family, our new Board Chair Jason Fujimoto has the experience, the skills and the youth to lead our great Board and Staff to ever higher levels of achievement and service.

As a longtime CPA and as managing partner of one of Hawai‘i’s largest locally owned financial services companies, I know that numbers tell stories, too.

So, with the White House handing Congress a proposed federal budget that would de-fund the nonprofit Corporation for Public Broadcasting, I took a closer look at the numbers in the current federal investment.

$1.35. That’s the cost of public broadcasting per citizen per year – less than the price of a manapua.

For years now, Republicans and Democrats have vigorously argued and then come together in a bipartisan investment to give public media $445 million a year, with most of the money going directly to support free, noncommercial, locally run PBS television stations and NPR radio stations across the country.

$445 million is 1/100th of 1 percent of the nation’s budget, amounting to $1.35 per citizen per year. The national PBS folks point out that’s less than a cup of coffee. Here, we like to say: That’s less than the price of a manapua – and a small manapua at that.

Most years for PBS Hawai‘i, our part of the national funding amounts to 15 percent, or about $1 million, of our annual revenues. We use the federal investment as seed money to attract contributions from the private sector – “viewers like you.” Individuals, businesses and charitable foundations pitch in. It’s these private gifts and grants, fanned by the spark of federal funding, that provide the bulk of our statewide programming and outreach.

Among the offerings that the federal investment helps us acquire: curriculum-based PBS KIDS programming that boosts our children’s learning; the science show NOVA; the investigative program Frontline; and performing arts on Great Performances. The federal funding also helps to create shows like Na Mele, the only weekly television show featuring traditional Hawaiian music; and Insights on PBS Hawai‘i, the only live hour-long interactive public affairs show on weekly statewide television.

As a lean local nonprofit that’s able to leverage the federal money and also scale our services by sharing program costs nationally in public media, PBS Hawai‘i has a track record of delivering quality shows at very reasonable costs.

To guard against political interference in program content, Congress has provided two-year “forward funding” as a firewall. All of this computes to a successful public-private partnership.

As Neil Shapiro, who heads WNET in New York, observed: “It’s not like cutting this would have any appreciable effect on any taxpayer across the country, but losing PBS would.”

In my view, this is especially true when it comes to the value of PBS’ in-depth news coverage, arts and culture, a safe haven for keiki and a trusted place to air differing perspectives on local issues.

It’s a privilege to volunteer my time as Treasurer of PBS Hawai‘i’s Board of Directors – because I want to support a community treasure that is efficient and collaborative in costs, while providing a significant multiple in the value returned to the people of Hawai‘i.

I see how the federal investment enriches the people of Hawai‘i and keeps our stories alive, our music playing and our home a better, safer place. The numbers tell the story.

If you’d like to help support public media organizations like PBS Hawai‘i:

HONOLULU, HI – In celebration of #GivingTuesday, observed the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, PBS Hawai‘i will be encouraging the community to support Hawai‘i’s only locally owned public television station through our first #GivingTuesday social media campaign. This year, #GivingTuesday falls on Tuesday, Nov. 29.

Throughout that day, PBS Hawai‘i will be rolling out a series of videos on Facebook Live that aim to remind the community how the public television station plays a role in so many individuals’ lives. PBS Hawai‘i will also be keeping the day fun through lighthearted memes, improvised skits and other creative means through social media.

#GivingTuesday is a global giving movement that has been driven by individuals, families, organizations, businesses and communities in all 50 states and in countries around the world. Since its founding in 2012, millions of people have come together to support and champion the causes they believe in and the communities in which they live.

PBS Hawai‘i is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization and Hawai‘i’s sole member of the trusted Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). We advance learning and discovery through storytelling that profoundly touches people’s lives. We bring the world to Hawai‘i and Hawai‘i to the world. pbshawaii.org | facebook.com/pbshawaii | @pbshawaii

Quality shows. On your schedule.

PBS Hawai‘i Passport is an added benefit for valued donors of public television.

With PBS Hawai‘i Passport, you can enjoy past episodes of many of your favorite PBS and PBS Hawai‘i shows on demand using your computer, smartphone or tablet. More platforms and devices are coming soon!

Local Broadcast Sponsorship is a message identifying business, foundation, or individual support for the quality programs provided by PBS Hawai‘i. Sponsor acknowledgments air twice per program (once at the beginning, once at the end) for a period of six or twelve months, with an option for renewal. Over 37 local businesses, foundations, and individuals have chosen to support PBS Hawai‘i’s statewide broadcast by sponsoring their favorite programs. Click here to view the list of broadcast sponsors

PBS Hawai‘i supporters have discovered that sponsorship:

Yields significant marketing benefits.

Builds brand awareness by linking you or your business with high-quality programs.

Generates community goodwill through support of public television.

Positions you or your business before an educated and influential audience.

Promotes your offerings to a statewide audience at an affordable price.

Markets your brand in an environment free of commercial clutter.

To learn more about local broadcast sponsorship with PBS Hawai‘i, contact Patty Doo:

“At First Insurance, we see the value of PBS Hawai‘i programming to our company, and understand that if we want this sort of programming to continue to thrive, we need to support it.”Steve Tabussi, Senior Vice President of Marketing
First Insurance Company of Hawaii

“Ulupono Initiative is proud to sponsor PBS Hawai‘i’s mission to provide quality television programs to the people of Hawai‘i. We want to support others who do great things for our community, like PBS Hawai‘i.”Amy Hennessey, Director of Communications
Ulupono Initiative

“Both our organizations share a deep connection with Hawai‘i, and supporting local programming is the same as supporting the local community.”Richard Pezzulo, Executive Director
Waimea Valley

“PBS Hawai‘i presents a variety of insights through the telling of stories and personal experiences. Our support will allow PBS Hawai‘i to expand creative programming that will benefit everyone throughout Hawai‘i.”Kristeen Hanselman, Executive Director
University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (UHPA)

Support the Programs You Love

What Does My Donation Support?

It takes our community pitching in to provide PBS Hawai‘i’s trusted multimedia platform. We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) multi-media organization and the only locally owned broadcast television station in Hawai‘i. Your tax-deductible donation sustains our independence as a locally owned organization. We connect and engage local communities in thoughtful public discourse through Insights on PBS Hawai‘i, nourish their appreciation for culture and the arts on Na Meleand Great Performances, preserve the lessons of history through American Experienceand shape Hawai‘i’s future with our statewide student news network, HIKI NŌ.